Matriculation related in Nigerian Universities

The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education discharges its responsibility for National Examinations mainly through four educational agencies designed to handle particular and specific examinations. The best known is the West African Examination Council (WAEC) which is an international examining body that serves five nations (Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra-Leone), in the West African sub-region. The other three agencies are the National Board for Educational Measurement (NBEM), the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). Whereas three (WAEC, NBEM and NABTEB) handle terminal and exit examinations in Secondary schools and technical Colleges, the fourth (JAMB) handles admissions into tertiary institutions.

Since its establishment the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) has become the cornerstone in the execution of policies concerned with admissions into Nigerian tertiary education systems. It carries out the following functions within its jurisdiction:

* Conducting matriculation examinations for admission into all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

* Placement of suitable qualified candidates in the institutions.

* Collation and dissemination of information on all matters relating to admissions into tertiary institutions (Olagboye, 1998).

Decree No. 2 of 1978 established JAMB. This was amended by Decree No. 33 of 1988 which extended its jurisdiction and powers to conduct entry qualifying examinations into Nigerian Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. This in turn was subsequently amended by Decree No. 4 of 1999, which officially removed discretionary considerations from the parameters for admission.

The University Matriculation Examination (UME) which is conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) may be viewed as part of a simultaneous process of centralizing key decisions about equity in the admission of candidates into the existing places in Nigerian higher institutions. In this regard consideration is also given to the political configuration of the country and the educational imbalance existing among states in the country (Durosaro, 1997).

Before the introduction of JAMB each tertiary institution carried out its own admission process in its entirety. It conducted examinations and then offered places to the successful candidates in accordance with laid down criteria. Each school was unique in its values, goals and expectations, which were 'protected' and 'promoted" in order to be respected and sought for by the society. Each institution still carefully but judiciously reflected its "self-conception" and "external expectations" (Frackmann, 1992). Likewise a potential candidate was free to apply to two or more universities with the hope that he/she will be admitted into one of the universities for a course of study. Therefore JAMB became a unifying mechanism to move away from individualism, self-control and quality to emphasis on the actual (numerical) input and output to be achieved by the institutions of higher learning.

JAMB system of admission into higher institutions particularly the first generation universities (Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Zaria, Nsukka and Benin) is classified into three broad categories:

1. The Merit List includes the potential students who sat for and met the stipulated cut-off mark for a particular course of study. It accounts for 45% of the candidates admitted for each course.

2. The Catchment's Area (Locality) takes up 35% of the overall admission into each course. It takes care of candidates that live in the area where the university is located together with some affiliated areas. The Catchment's Area is determined every year by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

3. Educationally Less Developed States. This takes care of students from states which are considered to be educationally disadvantaged (retarded in educational development). JAMB admits 20% of the potential students from such states into the university (University of Benin Admissions Report, 2003).

For the second generation of Nigerian universities: that is, the second batch of seven (Bayero (Kano), Sokoto, Jos, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Maiduguri) admission criteria are classified as follows: